i was lost and insecure until i found you
by AStitchedUpHeart
Summary: Sometimes all it takes to heal you is true love. Percy finds this out the hard way with a little help from Oliver. / Percy/Oliver and the struggle to tell the family.


_**Written for the Big Sis/Lil' Sis competition: Round 4, the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp: whatever, Camp Potter: Campfire Songs, Week 7, Fanfiction: School of Imagination and Creativity, PDHPE Assessment 3 and the All Sorts Of Love Competition: Non-Canon Love**_

**i was lost and insecure until i found you**

_'Lost and insecure,_

_you found me,_

_you found me.'_

_- You Found Me, The Fray_

It was dusk on a biting late November day. The leaves were swirling ferociously past the small window and a slight whistle could be heard throughout Oliver's flat.

'Are you going to tell her?' asked Oliver, as he lounged back on the sofa. His feet were propped up on the pouf and he looked completely calm, a start contrast to the man who was with him. Percy Weasley was nervously perched on the very edge of the chair, he had his head hunched forward and he clasped his hands together. Almost in a prayer-like motion.

'I will, I will...' he replied, not looking at the man who had asked the question.

'And how many times have you said that already, Percy?' Percy paused before replying.

'Too many to count.'

'Exactly,' replied Oliver. 'Do you even plan on telling your Mother about our relationship?'

'Of course I do, Oliver. It's just difficult at the moment-'

'Don't give me that bullcrap about being too soon after the Battle. That was six months ago now...' His voice had changed, but he kept an epitome of calmness as he sipped from his glass.

'It _is _too soon. She's still mourning after Fred and I don't want to shock her any more. I think my defection to, and then from, the other side has caused her enough pain for a while at least.'

'You're her son, Percy! Whatever the pain you've caused her before, her love for you will always be more than that,' said Oliver as he placed his glass down. He moved to kneel in front of his lover and grasped his hands.

'I don't think so,' replied Percy, as he dropped his head. 'I've caused just too much for her to forgive me straight away-'

'How do you know that she hasn't forgiven you already?'

'Pardon?'

'Have you seen her recently? What have you done to prove that you're sorry?'

'Er, I've only seen her at Fred's funeral. I spoke on behalf of the family - composed a poem in honour of him.'

'And what did she say to that?'

'She whispered a thank you to me, that was it.'

Oliver looked triumphant. 'There, I knew it: you _are _forgiven!'

'How does that prove that I'm forgiven?' questioned Percy, as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

'It just does, ok? So, you're forgiven-'

'That's a matter of opinion-'

'Don't interrupt! You _are_ forgiven, so why aren't you telling her? There's something you're hiding from me. Tell me...' implored Oliver, as he gazed into Percy's eyes.

Percy ripped his hand out of the hold of his boyfriend's and stood. Oliver looked on in shock as he turned his back on him and stormed towards the window. He looked out into the gradually darkening night, and spoke in a hollow voice. 'Fine! There is something else. Nobody else in the family is homosexual, I'm afraid of the consequences my admittance may cause. I'm afraid of the backlash from everyone who I care about. I'm afraid that I won't be accepted. And... I'm afraid that I'll be cut off - disowned.'

'Perce, sit back down. Please, for me? Let's talk about this.'

Percy looked at the pleading eyes of his boyfriend and walked back towards the chair that he previously occupied in a more composed fashion than when he left. Oliver was still knelt in the same position, his hands still in the same position that they were before his boyfriend ripped his own away.

'So there, now you know,' croaked Percy. His voice strained from the pressure of not breaking down in front of the one man who saw him as a stronger man than most.

'There's nothing to worry about-' Oliver started.

'No! You don't understand. I was a coward for walking out on my family, and I've been a coward ever since. I sought power over love: the one aspect my family respects above all else. I've got so much to make up for, so much to give back...'

'Wouldn't it help if you were honest with them? If you told them about us? I'm certain they would rather know about us now, than find out some other way and realised that you lied to them. I know your family more than quite a few other people, and I _know_ they wouldn't disown you for something like this. Be brave, Percy, like the man I know you are.'

'But what if they do?' whispered Percy.

'Well, then you'd have to move in with me, wouldn't you?'

'Ah, silver linings...' joked Percy. 'You'd have to stop leaving your Quidditch robes everywhere though for a start.'

He looked disapprovingly towards the navy robes scattered over the back of the sofa and hanging from the curtain railing.

'Anything for you, Perce,' replied Oliver with a wink.

'Good. Though, what am I going to do?'

'Tell them, of course!'

'I don't know. I'm still not sure they'd accept me...'

'Percy,' stated Oliver. 'Are you, or are you not, the boy who received O's in all his O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's? Surely you've realised by now that you're just putting off telling them because, for some unfathomable reason, you think they'll throw you out on the street? It's all rubbish that!'

'I suppose you do speak sense-'

'Thank you-'

'Sometimes...' finished Percy as he kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. He took a deep breath. 'Ok, I'll tell them. But you'll come with me?'

'Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way. Need to catch up with George anyway.'

They both stood. Percy started as Oliver grabbed his arm.

'What are you doing? Can you not apparate?'

'Yes, I just thought it'd be a little more intimate this way,' replied Oliver with a wink and a cheeky smile. He pressed himself up close to Percy. 'Don't you agree?'

'Yes. Clearly there is nothing more romantic than being sucked through space, completely squashed, with a feeling of wanting to throw up your innards,' said Percy dryly.

'Oh, I love it when you talk sarcastic, Perce,' grinned Oliver.

'Haha, you're so funny. I've never apparated with someone side-along though. What if you get splinched?'

'I won't. I trust you completely,' replied Oliver. He stared into Percy's eyes, and stroked his face gently. Percy nodded but stopped before he turned on the spot.

'You've changed me, you know? I didn't know who I was when we met again. I wasn't sure who thought my allegiance was back with you. Your side hated me because I left, but yet you still liked me because I came back. I was so confused, so lost in my own mind. Then you came along and you brightened my path. I know now, I know everything that was unclear to me before. I found myself again, and it's all thanks to you.'

'If that's your way of saying "I love you", that's one of the best I've heard!' Oliver said as he leant forward for a kiss. He closed his eyes before Percy's lips met his own.

When Oliver next opened his eyes he was facing the familiar sight of the Burrow. The crooked silhouette of the house in the setting sun seemed to be a calming influence for Percy. He seemed to visibly relax; the tension in his shoulders that Oliver didn't even realise was there disappeared.

'Ready?' asked Oliver.

'Yes. Together?'

'Together.'

Percy took hold of his boyfriend's hand and they walked towards the inviting aroma that the Burrow emitted.


End file.
